Welcome to Fit2Mind.
In today's meditation we will practice a technique known as the Empty Bowl Meditation.
And it's a meditation practice that calms the mind and unfolds us into a blissful state of awareness and being.
You can practice this sitting comfortably or you can even practice this lying down.
Wherever you choose to be,
Take a moment to really relax your body,
Settling into the support of whatever it is below you,
Softening all of your muscles,
The skin across your face.
And allow the palms of your hands to turn upwards towards the sky,
Gently allowing the fingers to relax,
Curling inward toward the palm like empty bowls,
Resting them on the floor if you're lying down or on your knees or thighs.
Allowing your jaw to relax and the tongue gently touching the roof of the mouth behind the front teeth.
And as you sit here or lie here in total relaxation,
Simply begin to observe the breath,
Watching the breath breathe itself without interfering with the breath,
Just allowing the lungs to expand and contract,
The body to rise and fall with little effort on your part,
Effortless breath,
Allowing the breath to be the object of your attention,
The ebb and flow of your breath.
Begin to feel the breath entering and exiting through the nostrils,
Bringing your awareness to the breath at the tip of the nose.
Become aware of the air inside of the nostrils,
Touching the nasal passageways,
That cool air as it flows in,
Noticing the warmth of the air as it flows out.
Watching the breath swirl around the nose,
Traveling to the lungs via the throat,
And following the journey of the breath as it swirls back up out of the lungs,
Past the throat and out through the nose,
The in-breath,
Nose,
Throat,
Lungs,
And the out-breath,
Lungs,
Throat,
And nose,
The full journey of the breath,
Nose,
Throat,
Lungs,
Belly expands,
The belly drops,
The breath comes back out,
Lungs,
Throat,
And nose.
Now begin to notice the gentle pauses between each breath,
That moment the breath pauses and stops as you reach the top of the inhale,
And that moment the breath pauses and stops as you reach the bottom of the exhale.
Notice the stopping points,
The turning points between each breath,
The top of the inhale,
A pause,
And the bottom of the exhale,
A pause.
Notice how the breath turns into the next,
The inhale,
The pause,
The turning to the exhale,
And the bottom of the exhale,
A pause,
And the breath turns back to the inhale.
Notice when you reach the top of your inhalation,
There is a sense of fullness,
As if those empty bowls are now full,
Full to the brim,
Overflowing with their fullness.
And then as you release the breath,
The bowl empties and empties and empties until you reach the pause,
The peak of the emptiness,
And the breath flows in again,
Filling that empty bowl,
And then there is a pause,
A stop,
The peak of fullness,
And exhaling all the way out,
Back into the emptiness,
Where there is a pause,
And there is an opening into that vast emptiness,
And continuing to breathe in this way.
In the pause,
The mind pauses,
Time pauses,
Thoughts pause,
And we open ourselves into vast emptiness,
And it is in this moment that we become empty,
Source,
Universe,
Energy comes to fill you.
This is the point that you are closest to Source.
It is in those pauses where everything pauses,
And it is in our emptiness that Source and Energy,
The Universe,
Or God,
Comes to fill us back up,
Always.
This is where we are the closest to that Source.
Bring your attention to the emptiness at the bottom of the exhale,
And if it's possible extend that emptiness just a little bit longer,
Allow your bowl to drain completely empty,
And when we are completely empty,
Feel the breath,
The love of Source pour into us,
Filling us up,
The pause,
That place of deep connection,
And the emptiness,
An opportunity for love and energy to pour in its abundance into us.
Sometimes we need to empty ourselves before we can become full again,
Just like the breath needs to empty before the inhalation can take place again,
And it's those moments of transition and pause between where we come to realize this in its glory.
Take another deep breath here into your fullness,
Pausing at the top of the fullness,
Holding that fullness,
And then exhaling all of that breath into that vast place of emptiness,
That empty bowl waiting to be filled once again,
And allow the breath to pour into you,
And the breath to pour back out,
That constant ebb and flow of life.
Take a moment here to slowly bring awareness back into the body,
The fingers and the toes.
If you have chosen to lie down for this meditation,
Slowly begin to wiggle the fingers and toes and stretch and yawn.
Before you come back to your seat,
Back into your day,
Take a moment on your side,
Pausing there,
Not too fast to come up.
If you're still in your seat already,
Just bowing your head,
Dropping your chin towards your heart.
Thank you all so much for your practice.
Until next time.
